Losing friends because of politics.

I am a moderate. I take politics issue by issue. Sometimes I will agree with one party on one issue and the other on a different issue and a lot of
times disagree with them both. However, despite my opinions, I try to respect the opinions of others and try to realize that all of us regular Joes
and Janes really are voting for what we think is best, even if we have different opinions on what that "best" is.

Lately that has been hard for me to do. Just recently my husband and I lost my husbands best friend of twenty-five years (and his girlfriend whom I
was also close to) because in the last few years, for some odd reason, this guy has turned into a political bully. He labels himself a conservative
republican (there are self-proclaimed liberal bullies too) and honestly I know other conservative republicans who would never bully people like he
does. Any simple political disagreement or action turned into a big name calling session on his part. Most of the time we weren't even disagreeing
with him. We'd say something like "This Heinz ketchup is really good" and he'd say "How dare you, it's unamerican to buy that ketchup because
John Kerry is related to that family and he's a liberal!" Attempts to avoid political discussions with this person didn't pan out. He would be
pushy and it got to the point where politics was the only subject that he ever talked about. When we told him it really bothered us, he decided that
politics were more important than our friendship and that was that.

Before this guy started beating politics like a dead horse, we all had a great relationship. I really miss them despite all of this and I just don't
know where to turn or who to talk to about it.

All in all, this really breaks my heart that we are becoming this divided as a nation (or perhaps we have always been). We can't realize and accept
the fact that other people, even people close to us, have different opinions and beliefs that we do? We are willing to throw away close long term
friendships over this? It seems to me that we don't need outsiders or terrorists to ruin our nation, it seems to me like we are ruining it ourselves
by allowing ourselves to become so divided.

The only people I would ever hear my friend quote were Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh. So obviously his knowledge of politics was very limited. I mean
those guys aren't career politicians...they are talk show hosts.

You're right oneolddude, maybe if politicians took the time to really inform and reach out to their constituents then maybe we wouldn't have this
big of a problem. It's sad to follow talk show hosts and entertainers as our influence in politics.

My best friend for the last 12 years (I'm only 25 as I write this), has done nothing but berate me about my stance on politics for years.. It was
always fine, until I decided that politics today isn't as much about policy, but actual HUMAN IDEOLOGIES.

I do not affiliate with democrats or republicans.. I think both of the sides of the coin are just as scuffed up and smeared as the other. I HATE when
people label me as either..

He knows this, and calls me a radical liberal democrat at every turn.. I would not usually have a problem with this, except he pegs me with people
that I hate.. I am not a fan of Obama, but does that mean I have to disagree with everything he stands for?

-He believes that gays should not be allowed to wed, which to me, is just as prejudice as telling women or blacks they can't vote. Its prejudicial.

-He believes that the Tea Party is one of the most important movements in the history of the US. I honestly can say I don't know of a more mislead
group in the history of humanity, other than maybe the nazis and those crazy people who tried to follow hale bop.

-He believe that unemployment, something I have had to request for 6 months, is for losers and bums. He said that if you can't get a job, join the
military. I refuse to do so, and even being a post-graduate at a major university, I cannot get a job.

Barring the fact that all the above is opinion, he refuses to respect any of mine. So , the dude I lived with all throughout college, the person I
care about and respect as a friend, can no longer be someone in my life.

It hurts like a bi***, but I'm happier for it. I care about my opinions... We will never be friends again because he took it to a level that was
unbelievable about 2 months ago, that I will never again respect him for.

I'm sure this is a more exaggerated case, and I love having friends with conflicting ideologies, but there is a point where conflict becomes utter
disrespect, and that's where I drew the line.

I am really sorry for your loss SantaClaus. Unemployment is not for losers and bums. It is for someone to live off of in transition from one job to
another, you've paid into that and your company has paid into it. Not everyone can just go join the military either. I have a feeling that if your
friend got laid off he wouldn't go off and join the military.

My friend would say the same kinds of things too. However his girlfriend was on public medical assistance and they went to the food shelf all the
time. So he really didn't practice what he preached and that irked me more than anything.

I guess many of us are limited by our experiences. Our friends have not yet been in the situations of losing their jobs and having a hard time
finding another one. However my guess is if they did, they'd blame the liberals!

The Above Top Secret Web site is a wholly owned social content community of The Above Network, LLC.

This content community relies on user-generated content from our member contributors. The opinions of our members are not those of site ownership who maintains strict editorial agnosticism and simply provides a collaborative venue for free expression.